


Villain Manifesto: Crystal!John

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Challenge Response, Community: stargateland, Gen, Meta, Villains, manifesto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-14
Updated: 2011-06-14
Packaged: 2017-10-20 10:24:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/211771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A villain Manifesto for season four's Doppleganger</p>
            </blockquote>





	Villain Manifesto: Crystal!John

I have always been fascinated by the Crystal entity from "Doppelganger" (and the episode as a whole), and this gives me the perfect opportunity to try to set some of that fascination into words and pictures. I will attempt to refrain from continuious reference to the hotness of chaotic evil John Sheppard. ;)

  


So first, I'll give a little back-story on this villain, for those of you who haven't watched the episode in a while. While exploring an alien planet, John touches a glowing crystal thing and gets shocked, apparently killing it. Unbeknownst to the team, the crystal entity actually is absorbed by Sheppard, forcing it to take his form. It then jumps from person to person on the base trying to kill them in their sleep.

First let us consider the creature itself and the reasons to love it.  
1) Shiny addictive crystal housing  
2) Grows on trees  
3) Can impersonate anything that it can entice to touch it  
4) Can travel through any kind of energy, including human and presumably animal touch  
5) Controls dreams (And can make sleepwalkers do things)  
6) Gets some kind of benefit (or maybe just amusement) from killing people

If you don't already love it, let's look at the specific entity that infiltrated Atlantis.

1) Looks Like Sheppard, in the sexy black uniform  
2) Brings a lot of shippy subtext to people's dreams (John/Teyla, Teyla/Keller, Ronon/Keller, Teyla/Kate, John/Rodney, etc)  
3) Is smug, evil, and super-strong  
4) Evil John. In the sexy black uniform. Need I say more?

Now, let's get down to business. The dreams. We can learn so much about the entity from these dreams, and also so much about the dreamers.

  


**Teyla**  
Crystal!John seems to know all of the deepest fears of those he enters- much like a Boggart from Harry Potter, it can manifest our worst fears. Teyla relives the capture of her father and the meeting with John that led to her leaving her people. She also apparently has some fears - perhaps discomforts is a better word - about a possible relationship with John, and how it would impact their relationships with the others on the base. This reflects the running storyline dealing with Teyla's relationship with the other Athosians, and their feelings of abandonment when she joins SGA-1.

There are a few odd things in this dream, such as the appearance of Crystal!John as Bug!John, indicating a certain adaptability that is not even hinted at anywhere else in the episode. Also, it is implicated that the act of aggression is the catalyst to knock Teyla out of the dream, rather than the fear that keeps her trapped in it. Perhaps she fears a fightable opponent less than she fears emotions and others' reactions.

  


**Jennifer**  
Jennifer relives the Alien movie which had scarred her as a child, in combination with her medical fear of being unable to save a patient, specifically a friend. She also has a hint of another fear - being unable to recall standard medical facts, names, procedures, etc, in a crisis. This reflects her underlying worry that she is not worthy of being the chief medical officer, and her fear of failing.

  


**Ronon**  
Ronon, it seems, fears being abandoned, and perhaps having to become a runner again. We also see him bound and helpless while being buried alive. The fact that Ronon's first fear is to be alone on Atlantis - to be without the people who have taken him in - says much more than his second apparent fear, which is running on a foreign planet. Ronon has come to care for the people in Atlantis, and their disappearance from his life is very telling.

  


**Lorne**  
The next appearance of Crystal!John is an anomaly, as we do not see the dream, but the result, when Lt Lorne sleepwalks during the deadly dream. Despite not seeing the actual dream, we learn four important things about Lorne from this scene.

1) He has experience with the replicators, indicating that he has worked at the SGC for a while before being transferred to Atlantis.  
2) Of the big bad races, he apparently fears the replicators more than the Goa'uld or Wraith - technology over deadly aliens.  
3) He fears the corruption of his superiors, which leaves him in a foodhold-esque situation, fighting to preserve the chain of command.  
4) He does not completely lose his cool in this crazed situation (as Keller did) but still manages to think rationally enough to call for an ARG before resorting to shooting a potential human with live bullets. Though convinced that Sheppard is a replicator, he does not immediately go for the kill, but tries instead to be reasonable.

Points 3 and 4 will appear again in "Tabula Rasa," when Lorne is left in command of the base military while Sheppard goes for help, and he again threatens to shoot Sheppard. He also has a rational side, obeying Ronon's command to check his pockets for the photo. It is unknown what Crystal!John did to implicate himself as a replicator in Lorne's mind, but we see him at a point of stand off. Also interesting about Lorne's dream is that, because he is a sleepwalker, he is able to threaten the actual Sheppard in the real world. John and Crystal!John are juxtaposed, which further distances Crystal!John from this victim, contrary to the more hands-on approach he had be progressing towards (though perhaps that was in the dream not shown - Sheppard/Lorne, anyone?).

  


**Kate**  
Kate's dream is less personal - falling from the high balconies of Atlantis is surely a fear common to many of the expedition members. While there is nothing visible holding her on the railing, it is apparent that something is restraining her, keeping her from simply climbing back down. Somehow, Teyla manages to find her (How did she know? And how did the real one know to go to Kate's room that morning? Shippers can only speculate) and desperately tries to save her friend. At this time, Crystal!John steps into the picture and fights against Teyla, gaining his first death. Interestingly, his victim is the psychiatrist, the one theoretically the best able to resist mental intrusion, and with the dream apparently the least personal.

 _Also interesting is the fact that Crystal!John is taking a more active roll in the dream. He was one of many who cropped up in Teyla's dream, and only a slightly odd bystander in Jennifer's. However, in Ronon's he actually attacked the runner, restrained him, and then buried him alive once he regained consciousness. We suspect the invisible restraints on Kate to be related to the Crystal!John that keeps appearing; moreover, he actively restrains the person who tries to rescue her, sealing her fate._

  


**Rodney**  
Rodney's dream brings up his fear of whales, his fear of being abandoned, and his fear of being inadequate in a physical situation - not living up to Sheppard's standard. Once again a childhood media image appears, reminiscent of Jennifer's Alien reference. Rodney is alone, far from the city, and in a situation that requires a physical solution, rather than a genius scientific mind. Meanwhile, Crystal!John is again talking, rather than doing, as he simply speaks to Rodney.

This tells us something about the Crystal entity, but it also tells us something about Rodney. For Rodney, the words cut deeper than a physical injury. Crystal!John could physically impede Rodney if he so chose. He could fight for the oars, poke a hole in the boat, bale in water, or simply punch Rodney. Instead, he chooses to sling insults, cutting at the friendship that Rodney fought to develop with John. (Though the appearance of John's fear - the clown - in Rodney's dream gives us hope for their friendship/relationship)

  


Once again the real John directly opposes the Crystal!John, appearing behind Rodney (in direct mirror to the entity, who is facing him) and saying encouraging things to counter the negative insults. However, John changes the scenario by physically moving to help Rodney, thwarting the entity further. It also creates an interesting parallel to the scene where Crystal!John was physically detaining Teyla from helping Kate.

 _Physicality would seem to be directly proportionate to the chances of success for the entity - when he gets physical, he achieves death. However at his least physical, when John counters his words and inaction, Crystal!John is thrown from Rodney's mind. This brings an interesting dimension to the entity, insofar as his strength of death might be tied to his strength of actions within the mind. If he was physically restrained within someone's mind, might that prevent him from transferring hosts, or at the least, from killing the one he is in?_

  


**John**  
And now we get to John. The first element of his dream is the fear of failing- of letting Rodney die. Secondary is the accusations of his colleagues and friends, which are quickly set aside when John sees Crystal!John out of the corner of his eye. It is implied that, though John realizes the conversations were dreams, he still believes that Rodney is dead. This, perhaps, emphasizes the power of the entity better than any other scene. Even knowing that he is within the dream world seconds after hearing of the death, with no chance to fall asleep in the interim, John still isn't sure that Rodney is alive. (The abandoned gate room might also signify a feeling of failure for John, as it did in "Before I Sleep" and will in "The Last Man")

Here both Johns get physical, with Crystal!John at his most interactive. The physical struggle is the very epitome of an internal battle between John's light and dark sides. After facing so much pain and death in the world, John could quite easily become the sardonic bystander who simply insults his peers, (Keller and Rodney's dreams) instead of the caring friend who helps them. Both Sheppards wear dark clothes and Crystal!John appears to have a clear advantage, with his strength and intimate knowledge of John's mind.

  


_However, it is through the timely intervention of a friend that the crystal is defeated- this solitary entity that works by attacking individuals alone in their sleep cannot stand up to the combined strength of two fighters, as hinted at in Rodney's dream. Though he knows every detail of the mind he is in, Crystal!John cannot handle a second influence._

It also must be pointed out that Crystal!John is not dead. He has been forced to flee back into the crystal housing, but the crystal once again glows, indicating continued life. One has to wonder what shape it assumes now, and if it can, in fact, communicate with the other crystals on the planet (as would be implied by them all lighting up in the last scene.)

  


This entity - apparently sedentary, with no ability to physically move, has more power to damage and kill than many of the other villains seen in the shows. Crystal!John, without ever taking a physical action in the real world, can probe into the darkest corners of our minds and turn our worst fears against us. It can even cause death without a trace and a clean escape.

This entity could have wiped out the entire base, had it jumped into the conduits and picked specific targets earlier. It could have knocked out all the people with the power to stop it early on, by attacking them where they couldn't fight back. Its own flaws in procedure beg the question, actually, of its intelligence.

Was it a parrot, simply spouting back what each person feared, or did it actively and intelligently create scenarios? Does it have reasonable levels of intelligence? Does it want the death, or simply the fear? Will it retain the John personality even once back in the crystal housing - is that a permanent imprint, or can another be created? Why did the Ancients leave that entry blank in the database? Could Crystal!John actually be an AU John similar to Rod from "McKay and Mrs Miller"?

There are so many questions left as to the nature of this entity, and the nature of the people whose minds were exposed to it, which can be explored. And with the loss of their resident psychologist, who will these traumatized expedition members go to for help? Perhaps the Crystal!John chose it's mark well after all.


End file.
